


Lullaby

by NikoNotHere



Series: One-Shots [15]
Category: Rammstein
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Guitars, Hurt/Comfort, Lullabies, M/M, Night Terrors, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21981121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikoNotHere/pseuds/NikoNotHere
Summary: Oliver hears Richard's nightmare from the other room, and resolves to help comfort him.
Relationships: Richard Kruspe/Oliver Riedel
Series: One-Shots [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126496
Comments: 16
Kudos: 51





	Lullaby

Oliver stretched with a satisfied grunt in his hotel bed, enjoying the feeling of fitting comfortably on it. There had been times early on in their career as a band that they'd saved money by booking very inexpensive hotels, which invariably had terribly small sleeping spaces. For Richard, Till, Schneider and Paul, this hadn't been an issue, but he and Flake were constantly irritated by their dangling legs and cramped arms as they tried to get a good night's sleep.

Now though, Oli had the money to sleep in as big a room with as large a bed as he wished, and he relished the comfort of being able to roll over and stretch out.

Richard was already snoring in the suite next door-- he could hear him plainly through the wall-- but it served to make him feel even more at home and content rather than irritated. 

Sounds were a special thing to Oli. The particular way his bass strings twanged when he used his pick versus the softer strums when he plucked with his fingers; the unique tones each of his band mate's voices carried when they chatted on the bus; the cheers and sharp whistles of crowds when they stepped onstage; the pops and roars of the various pyrotechnics each night-- all brought such warmth and joy to his mind at the thought of them. 

Even the annoying sounds, such as the screechy-buzzing of feedback from Richard's mic when it wasn't properly set up; the shrill screams of overly enthusiastic fans when Till walked past them; the grating whine that Flake had in his voice when he decided he was done being helpful and cooperative during a music video shoot; and even Richard's guttural, bellowing snores every night were still special to him in their own ways.

This fact made it especially startling when Richard's snoring suddenly halted. Oli had been nearly asleep, but felt jolted back awake when his friend's rhythmic noise ceased so abruptly. He listened hard and heard nothing from the other room for a moment. Then came the unmistakable sound of crying

Oli was sadly familiar with that sound as well. Not a sniffling or the faint hitching of breath that told him someone was teary-eyed-- it was the heartbreaking sound of deep, uncontrollable, wracking sobs that pierced his heart and made him want to cry in unison.

Richard must have had one of his nightmares again. 

Oli felt pained for his band mate. Richard had fairly consistently for the past few weeks woken himself up in the middle of the night with nightmares. The first two or three times, Oli had poked his head into the room to check on him, but Richard had insisted he was fine and wanted to be left alone. Not one to cause a fuss, Oli had obliged, and refrained from intruding on his bandmate any more. The loud crying had stopped for a week or so, but returned, somewhat more stifled a few times since for a few minutes each time.

The past two nights, however, Oli had listened for nearly an hour before Richard's sobbing started to diminish, and another hour after that before he returned to his usual snoring.

Tonight, Oli only hesitated for a moment before standing up and walking over to the door connecting the suites. Before walking through, he leaned over and grabbed his acoustic guitar.

He smoothly padded across Richard's plush, carpeted floor over to the bed. Richard, either not hearing him enter or not caring if he had, was curled into a ball on his side, his knees pulled close to his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. His body shook hard with his sobs, his eyes squeezed shut and his teeth gritted behind his pained grimace.

Oli sat beside him on the bed after setting his guitar down, and laid a hand on Richard's bare shoulder. His skin was both hot to the touch and slick with sweat, and Richard flinched at the contact.

"Shhh," Oli soothed, firmly holding Richard's shoulder still, trying to stop the man from shaking so badly. 

Richard's breath was coming in ragged, heaving gasps between his agonized cries. He shook his head violently and tried saying something Oli couldn't make out amidst the sobbing. 

"Hush, Richard, it's okay," he murmured, trying to ease his voice into Richard's tormented mind. "You're safe; you're safe, friend. You're safe." Oli continued to mutter reassurances and hold Richard's trembling shoulder. 

After several minutes, the anguished man's sobbing finally began to diminish. Oli rubbed along Richard's back, cooing gentle words of encouragement as his tight, shivering muscles started relaxing. His crying fell to whimpers, and his sobbing dwindled to hiccuping breaths. He unfolded himself slowly, releasing his legs that Oli saw were marked with bruises from where he'd gripped himself too tightly. Richard turned his head and pushed his reddened face into the mattress, pressing the top of his head against Oli's thigh.

Oli softly petted his friend's head, smoothing the tousled, sweaty hair back into place. It took a few more minutes, but Richard's heaving breaths eventually calmed and his trembling had mostly ceased. The man stayed with his face turned onto the bed, his head still pressed against Oli's leg.  
With a last gentle brush of Richard's hair, Oli moved to stand up.

Richard's entire body tensed up again and he gripped at the sheets beneath him. He uttered faint, muffled words into the bed that Oli couldn't understand. He leaned his head down to listen and asked, "What do you need, Rich?"

He heard his friend swallow loudly, then watched him turn his head just enough to whisper without sheets against his mouth, "…please don't leave me."

Oli felt his heart ache at the request. What horrors must Richard be enduring night after night, to be dragged so low that he felt compelled to beg his band mate to stay with him and ward off the demons in his sleep? Oli felt a strange mix of humility and protectiveness at the realization that his friend needed his presence this desperately.

"I'm not going anywhere," Oli reassured, his voice low and calm. "I'm just getting my guitar."

He slid smoothly off the bed, reached his guitar and moved back to his previous place on the bed in one fluid motion, pushing his long leg to touch Richard's head again as it had before. Richard pushed himself a bit closer, his face still buried in the sheets, but his grip on them loosening along with his tensed muscles.

Oli began to strum at the strings, making up a smooth, quiet tune that resembled an old lullaby. As he played and slipped into the reverie that always accompanied his music, he murmured some lyrics that were part nonsense, part memories of that same old lullaby he was expounding upon. 

The minutes flowed away, taking Oli with them as he allowed himself to be lost in the music, gently swaying with the beat and closing his eyes in reverence. Before he knew it, a muffled snoring began to intrude into the soft notes from his guitar and voice. He opened his eyes and looked down. Richard had unclenched his fists from the sheets, and turned his head slightly away from the bed. His torso rose and fell with his rhythmic breathing, interspersed with short snores every so often. Oli smiled to himself and quietly finished his song with a final strum, then set the guitar down beside the bed. 

He resolved to stay with Richard, as he'd promised, even though the man was now in a comfortable sleep. He gently patted Richard's head once more, then slowly, gracefully slid back on the bed and onto the pillows behind him.

Oli drifted off to sleep with echoes of his lullaby comfortingly mixed with Richard's snoring, ready to defend his friend against any further demons that might haunt his sleep.


End file.
